FIRST, be it known that Aquarelle, Anderson Valley's fine dining restaurant presided over by the magnificent chef, Christina Jones, is taking reservations for Valentine's Day dinners. Which is Saturday, boys, and you better make a note of that or suffer the consequences of your memory lapses. Christina Jones tells us: “Aquarelle is re-opening after a Winter Break on Friday 13th of February. We will have are usual Business Hours Friday-Monday from 5PM-9PM. We are going to have some special Menu Items for Valentines Dinner. Reservations encouraged. (707) 895-2767
SECOND, the huge basketball game between arch rival Mendo and hometown heroes, Boonville High School, has been rescheduled for Thursday, February 12th in the Boonville gym.
- JV Boys ~ 4pm
- Girls ~ 5:30pm
- Varsity Boys ~ 7pm
EVERYONE in The Valley has a storm story, ranging from mysterious blue flame racing along power lines between Boonville and the high school, to the big winds throwing fifty pound deck furniture far into the gulch below, to the gale force gusts that seemed only a puff away from blowing in the windows. Monday, downtown businesses were up and running soon after the power went back on about 9. The miracle ladies at Mosswood even managed to have their delicious soup on sale by noon, and down the street at the General Store a veritable crowd had gathered to eat and swap storm stories. Then, at 3pm, we went dark again, and stayed dark until 6:45 Tuesday morning. Here at your beloved community newspaper, we tried to get 'er done in between lengthy power outages, giving up Monday night to curse the dark and console ourselves with Evan Williams, consoling the inconsolable "since 1783." In no particular order…
MARSHALL NEWMAN reported last Friday, as the monsoon-like rains and winds commenced, "As of about 12:50 p.m. today (Friday), Boonville had received 3.86 inches of rain in 24 hours and San Francisco had received .19 inches. As rain differentials go for locations 100 miles apart, this one is pretty impressive. Ukiah got 3.30+ inches over the same period and Santa Rosa 2.05+ inches.
ANDERSON VALLEY logged 3-4 inches of rain by the end of the day Sunday, but by Monday morning weekend totals were 6-7 inches for the entire wild weekend.
AFTER a deceptively benign interlude of blue patchy sky Sunday afternoon, the deluge re-commenced about 6pm, this time accompanied by gale-force winds. Power went out a little before 9pm for much of Mendocino County, and torrential rains poured down much of the night.
BY 8:30 Monday morning most of Anderson Valley was again electrified and we learned from the world wide web that Bruce Jenner's sex change was still on despite our hero's car crash over the weekend.
DAVE EVANS at the Navarro Store says he never did lose power while all round him homes went dark. Dave did lose business, however, thanks to an obtuse Caltrans signage policy. Here's the prob: Caltrans erects signs along Highway 128 warning that the road is closed ahead, way ahead at Flynn Creek Road, 16 miles from where the engorged Navarro reaches the Pacific but flows fast and deep over the last 16 miles past Flynn Creek Road, the path to Comptche and points west.
CALTRANS refuses to direct travelers to and from the Mendocino Coast via Flynn Creek Road to Comptche and on out to Mendocino Village because Flynn Creek Road is a Mendocino County-maintained road. As Dave points out, "People who don't know this area think it's impossible to get to the Coast when they can easily get there and back to the Anderson Valley again through Comptche." Caltrans won't tell travelers about the Comptche route for "liability reasons."
LIABILITY REASONS? Caltrans' reasoning is that they could be liable if a motorist was advised by Caltrans to detour through Comptche and that motorist had some kind of accident on the non-Caltrans-maintained detour. The upshot of this silly policy? Dave Evans and many other Anderson Valley and Mendocino Coast businesses lose a weekend's income because auslanders think there's no way to get in and outtahere.
CALTRANS did, however, do its usual yeoman's work keeping highways 128 and 253 free of multiples of downed limbs. PG&E did double yeoman's work everywhere in the county, and right here in Boonville managed to repair a downed power line on Ornbaun Road within 30 minutes of its being called in. County workers have done triple yeoman's work laboring long into the night Friday and Saturday on the half washed away Lambert Lane Bridge.
THE BUCKHORN'S massively anchored sign out front was uprooted by the big winds as was the Greenwood Ridge Winery sign. We spotted the Buckhorn's genial owner, Tom Towey, staring mournfully at the wreckage early Monday.
HIGHWAY 128 was closed Sunday night as the Navarro went above, way above, flood stage. Highway One was closed where the Garcia River flows over it in big rains at the Stornetta Ranch between Manchester and Point Arena. Ditto for Highway 175 at Hopland where the Russian River rushes through the low-lying hamlet just east of Highway 101.
FRIDAY’S RAIN took another big chunk off the bank under the Lambert Lane Bridge where County road crews worked all day Friday and late into the night. Then on Saturday they were back trying to shore what’s left of it up. The rip-rap they installed where the old wall fell away will probably hold for a while, but it looks like a real long-term rehab will cost the County some big bucks.
A READER WRITES: "Re your statement in last week’s Valley People that the first January in recorded history passed without rain: 1.3 inches fell here on our deepend (Navarro) ridgetop over the Marty-King weekend, Jan 17-18. I don’t know how much of that precipitation made it to Boonville, but we weren’t completely dry for January. Meanwhile, it is really coming down this morning. We’ve gotten two inches from this storm thus far.
Ed. note: I was going off San Francisco's reports. Nary a January drop down there.
MANUEL ALMEIDA, 21, of Boonville, got a big scare last week when his vehicle left the rain slick Ukiah Road a few miles up from Boonville. But young Mr. A's plunge stopped short of turbulent Soda Creek, restrained only by a small fence.
JUDY BASEHORE WRITES: "The Waltz Project exceeded my wildest expectations. I think I counted 70 people on the dance floor. Everyone agreed that Laura Sloan is a terrific teacher. For the next three Thursdays, Feb. 12, 19 and 26 the Anderson Valley Grange will have its doors open for us to practice, practice, practice from 6 to 8 PM. Please feel free to join us even if you missed the formal lesson. Happy Trails!"
A 12-YEAR-OLD Boonville girl had to be attended to one sad day last week after she and her 12-year-old friend ingested an illegal drug in pill form. Hard to be shocked by much of anything anymore, but 12-year-olds? That's shocking.
FORMER SUPERVISOR NORMAN DEVALL celebrates his 75th birthday on Saturday, February 21st, with an open house at his Elk home, noon to nine.
MEMORIES — Drawings and paintings by Kyllikki ‘Kay’ Clark. February 20 to May 14, 2015. Reception to celebrate Kay’s art on Friday, February 20th, 2015. 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Scharffenberger Cellars Tasting Room in Philo. Proceeds to benefit the nonprofit AVArts scholarship fund and further student studies in literary and performing arts. Special thanks to the Clark family for their support. The Scharffenberger Cellars tasting room is at 8501 Highway 128, Philo, CA 95466 895-2957. Info@scharfenbergercellars.com
BRUCE PATTERSON, long-time writer for the AVA, is resting at his Prineville, Oregon home as he recovers from a heart attack. Bruce's wife Tricia reports, “After ICU, ER, tests, tests, tests, he's home on oxygen, meds, recovering and comfortable.”
ANDERSON VALLEY AS ROMANTIC GETAWAY?
AV is mentioned on the Today Show as among the Golden State's "best romantic getaways for Valentine's Day."
WAY TO GO, VINCE! Elk's Vincent Longo has graduated from Ithaca College's Roy H. Park School of Communications with a B.S. in television-radio.
PACKED HOUSE at the Unity Club's lunch at the Fairgrounds last week, with Deputy Walker and School chief Michelle Hutchins being the big draws. The Deputy conceded that methamphetamine use is widespread in The Valley, modestly not mentioning that he does such a thorough job policing it the drug's tragic consequences are largely invisible. Our tweakers pretty much keep themselves indoors.
MS. HUTCHINS made it clear she is fully committed to keeping our schools drug-free, proving that commitment last year when she expelled a popular high school student only days before graduation. Mr. Hutchins also briefly addressed the Club about a goat-raising project he's getting under way.
AV FOODSHED is in the midst of some personnel change-up. We are expanding our scope in this, our eleventh year, with new projects and possibilities. If you are interested in volunteering to help us grow and improve, please reply at Mendocinolocalfood.org "Over the past 20 years we have seen a growing realization that the current model for society and culture is unsustainable...."
2ND SUNDAY PANCAKE, Eggs and Bacon Breakfast at the AV Grange this Sunday, Feb 8, 8:30 - 11:00. "It's great food and community," promises Greg Krouse.
AV FOODSHED/GRANGE sponsors the 3rd Sunday Soup Potluck and Movie Night - Future of Hope is the film. The potluck is at the AV Grange at 6 pm, followed by the film. Please BYO Dish (your plate, bowl, utensils, cup, etc.) Also please bring enough soup for 6 and/or anything to go with - salad, bread, chips, crackers, dessert, etc. This is also a great opportunity to help us support the AV Food Bank. You can bring sealed pantry items and/or abundance from your garden for the food bank (3rd Tuesday is food bank day at the Methodist Church in Boonville).
THE NOT-SO-SIMPLE LIVING FAIR Organizing Committee is in the planning process for the 6th annual NSSLF at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville. If you are interested in being involved, please email info@notsosimple.info. We especially need people with skills in advertising, volunteer coordinating, writing and networking. The dates for this year are July 24-26.
FEBRUARY 15TH IS HAYES BRENNAN'S BIRTHDAY (74). He sends his love to you all. He is living for a while in Portland. He would love to hear from any friends! Address: The Park 6323 SE Division Portland, Oregon 97206. (— Kira Brennan)
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